This invention relates to mechanized car washing and drying systems and more particularly to an improved drying mechanism that may be used effectively in such systems.
In most automatic car washing facilities presently in commercial operation, a conveyor mechanism advances the vehicle through a tunnel-like facility in which successively located devices are actuated by the vehicle and cause it to be wetted down, scrubbed with a detergent solution, rinsed, and finally dried. Several prior art car washing and drying systems use blowers to supply high pressure air to nozzles directed at the car to blow away excess water and to speed evaporation. This method of drying is inefficient in that it leaves enough water on the car to require a manual wipedown. This method also requires a large horsepower motor to operate the blowers, thereby using great amounts of electrical energy.
Other prior art washing and drying systems such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,510,893 and 3,683,441 remove rinse water from vehicles by overhead carriers mechanically sweeping or drawing strips of absorbent material across the wet surfaces of the vehicle. This method of drying is more effective and more efficient than blower dryers but when practiced in elemental form requires frequent laundering of the absorbent strips and attendant down time while replacing dirt clogged strips with clean ones. This latter problem is largely solved by mechanically wringing the strips one or more times on each circuit, especially if preceded by a jet spray rinse, as in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,914,818, issued Oct. 28, 1975.
A remaining disadvantage of the prior art dry wiping systems concerns the tendency of the circulating suspended absorbent strips to catch on the ends of the windshield wiper blades of some automobiles, detaching or damaging the blades and sometimes the wiper blade arms. Prior attempts to solve this problem focused principally on increasing the speed of the auto conveyor and/or reducing the rotational velocity of the wiper strip carrier. Such measures have been unsatisfactory, however, because the relative speed settings necessary to minimize wiper damage usually differed considerably from those required to maximize the working efficiency of a given installation. In the case of a rotary carrier moving the strips in a circular path about a central vertical axis, attempts to alleviate wiper damage by the technique of decreasing the diameter of the rotor assembly presented problems in that the wiper strips failed to drop off the sides of the car during circulatory motion, hence failed to make proper contact with side surfaces of the cars. Also, problems were experienced in achieving consistent engagement with the wringer device. On the other hand, increasing the carrier rotor diameter unduly preempts working space along the conveyor run without commensurate effectiveness in drying the cars. Since many such washing establishments are run in conjunction with other businesses on expensive real estate, for example, a gasoline filling station or an automotive repair shop, space is usually at a premium. Hence a drier that occupies excessive space unduly increases the cost of doing business.
It is therefore an object ot the present invention to provide a new and improved wiper drying apparatus for use in mechanized automobile washing and drying establishments. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a wiper drying apparatus which, with achieving improved drying efficiency, substantially eliminates the problem of breaking and/or bending windshield wiper blades on vehicles being washed and dried. It is a still further object of this invention to provide such a wiper drying apparatus that takes up a minimum of space lengthwise of the car conveyor and that provides a strip carrier arrangement with capacity to accommodate a greater number of absorbent strips to be used in the same or less space as the prior art drying machines.
Still other objects relate to providing mechanical construction and operating advances including improved strip mounting means that securely yet releasably holds the wiping strips suspended from the carrier means and that controls the orientation of the strips both during the traverse cross the car and also when they are being swung clear at the ends of the sweep. As a result improved wiping effectiveness and efficient entry of the wiping strips in the wringer mechanism are attained.